By way of background, various types of facsimile or facsimile controls, including facsimile readable encoded job cover sheets, are known in the art. The following patent disclosures and products are noted as examples:
Of pioneer interest re facsimile coding methods is Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,443, issued Apr. 25, 1978, to Gorham, et al., filed May 3, 1977. It shows cover sheets (called address cards) with a distinctive leading and trailing edge border (on both sides) bar coding pattern 84, detectable upon feeding into the facsimile transmitter scanner, which cover sheets can be marked [encoded] with telephone numbers also read by the fax transmitting unit, to automatically place facsimile sending telephone calls for the subsequently automatically fed sheets. FIG. 5A and Col. 8 indicates that "each row of the instruction field 85 is preceded by another distinctive bar code 86 . . . ". [A column of black squares is shown for 86.]
The recently announced Xerox Corporation developed "PaperWorks".TM. product utilizes a special encoded fine pattern of special marks ("glyphs"), electronically recognized as such using PC computer software by the facsimile electronic image receiver. ["PaperWorks".TM. and information thereon is commercially available by calling 1-800-432-9329.] It was initially configured to operate on a conventional personal computer having a conventional internal fax card and a modem, electronic mail system or other network connection to telecommunications, and running "Windows".TM. software. A "PaperWorks".TM. fax form carries a coded identification region which, upon scanning, may be decoded by an appropriate processing system. This coded identification allows the system to determine which of several different pre-stored forms the received form is, and what its page layout is. From this, the system can also extract the necessary user-entered information from the form to facilitate processing. An important feature of the "PaperWorks".TM. system is the use of data defining a control sheet image to provide information in accordance with which operations are performed on data defining a sequence of images [data defining images, not actual physical sheets of a medium]. For example, the control sheet image can include information indicating a designation to which the fax server then transmits data defining said sequence of images.
For example, "PaperWorks".TM. can respond to a fax transmission of a form that has checkable boxes, each needing only one mark to indicate desired recipients of a requested fax transmission. In other words, a user can mark check-boxes on a cover sheet form to indicate the recipients to whom a fax transmission is requested, where those recipients facsimile numbers were previously programmed in the PC in a recipients index. The form can alternatively or also include plural check boxes that are plurally marked with a recipient's entire fax telephone number. More specifically, when the special form is transmitted to the user's fax server (the user's PC with a fax card and "PaperWorks".TM. software), the fax server can cause fax transmissions to the indicated recipients. The fax server can do this by decoding machine readable marks on the form to obtain an identifier of the form; using the form identifier to retrieve a pre-stored form description; using the form description to determine which parts of the form are fields with check boxes that could indicate recipients; analyzing the contents of each recipient's check box to see whether it is marked; and then making the requested fax transmission to each recipient whose check box is marked. The last steps involves PC auto-dialing of telephone numbers of other faxes directed from marked indicia on the faxed "smart" "stored document distribution form," which form can be faxed from a PC receiver, as further described below. (Or, the set of forms could be carried around by the user, obviating the first step of retrieving a starter form.) The PC fax card dials a fax number, either read from a form or previously stored in the PC's fax card memory.
If a user's fax server receives a fax transmission of a document that is not preceded by a "PaperWorks".TM. form, the fax server treats the document as ordinary fax mail. That is, if a document is sent to the PC without a cover form, the PC will normally route the fax image as a document into the PC electronic inmailbox, thereafter alerting the user of new mail. An icon on the PC screen display may be modified to indicate that such fax mail has been received, and list these documents when the user requests a listing of fax mail. The user can then display or print the document.
To further describe "PaperWorks".TM. system (PW), capabilities by example, a remote user with access only to a fax machine may, simply by faxing a blank sheet to his or her own PC (which has been appropriately programmed to run upon receipt of an instruction from its fax card) start the system. The PC's "PaperWorks".TM. (PW) software can interpret the faxed blank sheet as a request by the user for a starter form. PW then creates a starter form by assembling instruction fields and user selectable items within those fields, and organizes the form according to a form description language. The particular layout of the starter form is stored, along with an identifier, such as a number. The identifier is added to the form layout as coded indicia ("glyphs"). PW dials back the remote user's fax machine telephone number (acquired through system handshaking or user-entered, as appropriate) and faxes back the form. Here, the remote user's fax machine functions as a printer. The remote user may then request by fax from his or her PC further forms allowing him or her to retrieve, store, distribute or delete documents in his or her PC. Assume he or she selects the "retrieve" option, by checking on the starter form a list of retrievable items desired. he or she dials her PC again, and faxes to it the now marked-up starter form. The PC identifies the received document as a form and finds and decodes the glyphs, obtaining the form identifier therefrom. With this information, and the page description language, the PC is able to determine what the remote user wants next-in this example a retrieve list form. This form is constructed and faxed back to the remote user in a manner similar to that described above. Now, in this example, suppose the remote user receives handout documents at a remote meeting and wishes to fax them back to his or her home office. As above, the remote user obtains a starter form by fax from his or her PC, and indicates on it that he or she wants to store documents. The form can also have a region which allows he or she to "name" the document being stored with a handwritten file name. This allows naming or labeling of a document without requiring access to any keyboard (OCR/OMR need not be performed on this handwritten file name). The remote user then faxes this form as a cover sheet for and with the handouts to his or her PC. The PW software causes the handouts to be stored as an image file in the PC with the associated handwritten file name. The remote user may also wish to distribute these handouts to others. This is facilitated by a PW form which allows the remote user to indicate thereon a document stored on his or her PC and to indicate fax destinations for that document. Each such form carries an identifier of itself and also user modifiable fields for allowing a user to cause one or more actions to occur based on marks imparted on the form. The receiving computer's software interprets and acts upon them.
Further noted in this regard is Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,980, issued Oct. 29, 1991 to W. A. L. Johnson, et al, entitled "Form Utilizing Encoded Indications for Form Field Processing", disclosing a facsimile transmittable form carrying a layout description of itself in coded data, markable boxes, and, optionally, instructions to a processor on how to process the form. Also, Xerox Corporation U.S. application Ser. No. 07/855,987 [D/91582] "Method and System For Labeling A Document For Storage, Manipulation, and Retrieval"; U.S. application Ser. No. 07/856,107 (D/92127) of Walter A. L. Johnson et al., filed Mar. 20, 1992, entitled "Techniques for Automatic Form Creation by Combining Partial Operations"; and U.S. application Ser. No. 07/854,520 (D/92165) of Walter A. L. Johnson et al., filed Mar. 20, 1992, entitled "Using a Form to Request Automatic Form Creation." The Xerox "Telecopier 495".TM. product used a marked "sense" sheet to implement its security provisions.
Turning to other facsimile control systems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,326, filed Jun. 26, 1990, issued May 19, 1992 to Burgess et al., and assigned to Hewlett Packard Company states, e.g., in part, in its Abstract: "A fax message transmitted by a facsimile transmitter includes bar coded headers in its first page. At least one of these headers contains the name of an addressee that is also a user on a network. A fax server receiving the incoming fax message inspects the first page of the incoming facsimile to locate the bar coded headers. If a TO: header is found it is used to determine the corresponding E-mail address, and the fax is automatically routed as E-mail on the network to the addressee . . . The fax server or some other application running on a computer served by the network may be the addressee . . . "
U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,779 to Yuji Hikawa, issued Sep. 24, 1991 to Fuji Xerox, is on a generalized job control sheet, utilizing a special encoded fine, critical, pattern of special marks which must be electronically recognized and read comprising (necessarily pre-printed) line drawings with a certain low correlative angle to longitudinal and transverse directions of the sheet, with the appearance of a varied pattern fine slash marks of two alternating angles. Said U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,779 is of particular interest in that it provides for single marking of a "FAX Number" "Registered Name" indicated area on the control sheet, and also two "Number of Copies" area selections from a column thereof. This job sheet is apparently for an input image scanner for either a printer or a facsimile system, although the latter is only briefly noted.
Another Fax coding related patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,333, issued Jan. 9, 1990 to Paul and David Baran, assigned to Interfax, and its pending reissue and art therein. It indicates in its Abstract that "the remote facsimile transmitter user marks paper selector sheet form [sic] using a pencil or pen" . . . for selective retrieval of text and graphics. Another such patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,563 to Harrington, discussed below. Also, Japanese Laid Open No. 63-242060 laid open Oct. 7, 1988.
The "User Handbook, Version 3.01" .COPYRGT.1988, for the Xerox, "FaxMaster 21" product, indicates that it can automatically load hours of multi-page, multi-destination, facsimile transmission documents, and send them all with a few simple keystrokes, and can retrieve document from multiple locations, print them at the hub, store them on disk for later printout, or forward them to other facsimile terminals [automated store and forward]. It provides electronic mail capability by storing documents for retrieval by remote network users. It provides confidential [electronic] mailboxes, enabling secure document reception for only authorized personnel. It utilizes a personal computer with software, and can use remote touch-tone telephone access to the hub unit.
EP Publication No. 0 354 703 A2 published Feb. 14, 1990 by Canon for Sato, et al., based on Japanese Application Nos. 193232991/88, 2236261/88 and 3129261/88, discloses a multi-functional information processing apparatus with an image scanner, telephone or facsimile function and performing facsimile or regular calling in accordance with key word searches. It can also be controlled by a business card reader (image scanner) reading telephone numbers on regular business cards.
Xerox Disclosure Journal, (XDJ) publication, Vol. 13, No. 4, page 193, July/August, 1988, by R. M. Johnson, entitled "Flash Mail", states, in its entirety: "A receiver of an unattended telecopier is constructed so that received mail grouped according to zip code could have the address printed on the reverse side of the message sheet. The receiver has duplexing capability. The sheet is then automatically folded and sealed with a weak adhesive. The letter then passes through a postage meter and is then sorted and delivered. The weak adhesive enables the letter to be readily opened without tearing."
Of particular interest, especially re voice telephone notification to recipients of fax messages, is U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,718 to T. Sueyoshi, assigned to Fuji Photo Film Co. It refers to facsimile correspondence containing codes for telephone numbers, and sensors in the receiving equipment for reading these telephone codes. This patent also notes in Col. 1 that facsimile systems can include in-house line systems. Said U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,718 in column 1, line 60 et seq., states that: "A first object of this invention is to provide an equipment which is attached to a facsimile receiver and which identifies, upon receipt of a piece of correspondence through a facsimile system . . . the telephone number of the ultimate addressee of the arrived piece of correspondence, connects a line with the identified telephone receiver, and sends a recorded message to the identified telephone receiver, thereby informing the ultimate addressee of the arrived piece of correspondence, of the arrival of a facsimile correspondence."FIG. 1 and Cols. 3-4 generally verbally indicate that an OCR or mark sensor [not disclosed?] can read or sense on the arrived facsimile correspondence the number of an ultimate address if it is in a specific location or with a special prefix or suffix signal [not disclosed?]. Col. 4 further states that an endless tape recorder transmits a recorded message including a notice of the arrival of correspondence at the facsimile receiver. However, note that for said U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,718, a sender of a fax sheet would need to put down the recipient's entire phone number on the sheet. A memory unit is used for temporarily storing the phone number indicated an the incoming fax, but that memory is apparently erased for receiving new phone numbers after the recipient is called. This equipment is apparently only for one-time telephone notification per facsimile message.
Although not part of a facsimile system, it is reported that a feature of an "Octel System 200" voice mail system is called "outcall notification" and may be as follows: when one receives a message on his voice mail system that telephone system dials your pager number to alert you that you have a message. One's voice mail box number and pager number are both dedicated. Also, of course, manually, for many years, a Western Union operator would call a person to let them know that their telegram came in.
Job control sheets for printer control-bar code printed copy sheets readable by an image input scanner for a printer to control printer operations-are known, for example, from Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,602,776 by York; 4,970,554 (D/87351C) by Rourke; 4,757,348 by Rourke et al; FX U.S. 5,126,858; and Eastman Kodak Corporation 4,987,447. Hand-marked copier job control sheets, with bar code identifiers, fed as and with documents to be imaged, are disclosed in Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,528, issued Feb. 3, 1981 to R. B. Sahay.
Of course, it is known to read optical or magnetically readable printed marks on a sheet itself (as opposed to cover sheets) for other sorting functions and purposes, such as for checks or deposit slips, old IBM punchcards and their multi-bin sorters, machines sorting physical (Post Office) mail by zip code, bar code label readers for product or invoice sorting, U.S. patents now printed with bar codes on their first page, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,005 to Burger et al. (AM Corp.) discloses a method of controlling a reprography machine [offset plate printer] wherein a code is formed along at least one edge of a master. The code contains instructions as to a number of copies to be made from each master and a manner in which the copies are to be distributed. A computer apparatus which is responsive to the code is provided for carrying out the instructions. See, e.g., FIGS. 2 and 3.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,012 to Verderber et al. discloses a header sheet for use with an automatic image communication transmissions system, (facsimile). The header sheet includes a peripheral border 11 of regularly spaced hash marks on both its front and back faces to identify the sheet as a header sheet. A data area of the header sheet comprises two basic portions: a first sender identification area 20, and a second addressee identification area 30. The data areas are coded by their positions in a raster scan for interpretation by the communication system to control a transmission operation. The data areas comprises a number of defined oval areas 51 to be marked by a user with pen or pencil, in accordance with information intended. See FIG. 1. The header sheet is scanned by a scanner at the transmission end before transmission.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,563 to Harrington discloses a data processing form for providing control information to apparatus, such as facsimile machines, having a scanner. The form has darkened areas which establish a row and column format with an elongate edge mark for each row. The edge marks extend to the edge of the form. Areas to be filled in by a user are defined using some of the darkened areas. The form format minimizes software needed for circuitry used to process information obtained from the form.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,101 to Schonfeld et al. (Sperry Corp.) discloses a duplex laser printer which prints discrete bar type codes on copy sheets in process for pagination control information.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,354 to Priddy et al. is only of background interest as disclosing one type of optically machine readable binary code.
Of particular background interest, job separation "mailboxes" per se, broadly speaking, are known in the art. A printer mailboxing system with locking bins is further noted below-the Xerox Corporation EPO application No. 0 241 273 published Oct. 14, 1987. Unlocked or open bin copier or printer "mailbox" art includes U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,074 issued Mar. 24, 1992 to B. P. Mandel, et al., by Xerox Corporation. See especially FIG. 4 and its description. In particular, it discloses automatic copier or printer output stacking of plural sets of pre-stapled, precollated, plural sheet copy sets into selected "mailbox" bins, i.e., more than one job set per bin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,790, issued Jul. 18, 1989 to M. Ito (Minolta) is of interest as showing a copier document feeder with plural input and output bins or trays for different document jobs, maintaining job segregation.
Automatically stacking more than one unstapled copy set into sorter bins, with set offsetting, by bin side-shifting for increased bin capacity, is described in the Xerox Disclosure Journal Vol. 14, No. 1, January/February 1989, p. 29, and Sharp patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,924. Copier output tray side-shifting for set offsetting is well known, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,059. In-bin set tampers, another way of providing set offsetting, are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,044,625, 3,860,127; 4,134,672; 4,477,218; 4,480,825; 4,616,821; and 4,925,172, and art cited therein.
The use of otherwise conventional existing sorters for [unlocked] printer output sorters or "mailboxes", and printer "mailboxing" in general, is discussed in Col. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,434 issued Jun. 27, 1989 to F. Lawrence, et al, by Gradco Systems Inc.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,892 issued Aug. 16, 1988 to H. Tanaka, et al.. A modular unit sorter is generally indicated in Col. 1 to be for sharing a printer with a plurality of users, sorting and compiling copies by user, in Seiko Epson Corporation EPO Application 0 399 565 by Shigeru Sawada, et al, published Nov. 28, 1990. Printer products observed with integral open sorter bins [the bin selection system is not known] include the Canon NP-9030 sold for several years with a sorter option; the Kyocera F-2010 and F-3010 laser printers with their 5 bin sorter option (1988?); and Oce van der Grinten Corporation's recently commercially displayed "6750" and "6800" printers configurable with either 20 or 40 bin optional programmable sorter/mailboxes. "Mailboxing" by bar-coded tape which is taping together output sets of a printer output is mentioned in the paragraph bridging pages 25-26, by Murray O. Meetze, for the same assignee, filed Dec. 16, 1991, as U.S. Ser. Nos. 07/808,241 and 07/808,133.
The term "mailbox", as used herein, as noted, refers to handling or sorting physical or hard copy sheets, not electronic images or documents, which are much easier to manipulate. A "mailbox" may more specifically, as in the example herein, refer to temporarily or permanently assigning a unique and predetermined electronic address to respective ones of plural bins of sorter-like equipment for a copier, printer or facsimile machine output, and enabling a particular user's output of one or more jobs to be directed into one or more selected bins so assigned. It may or may not include means for locking the bins and unlocking access thereto, as indicated above and as in the example herein. It may or may not additionally include a bin assignment scheme wherein each bin has an associated LCD or other type of display with the appropriate user name or label displayed, and/or a common or central display, as in the example herein, and/or wherein jobs are placed in more than one available bin if needed, i.e., if the sheet stacking capacity of one assigned bin is exceeded. A mailbox for a laser or other electronic page input printer may desirably stack precollated sets of sheets into a selected bin, rather than additionally or alternatively functioning as a normal collator or sorter, since the electronic printer can normally more easily reorder and recirculate the pages being copied to copy them in precollated order rather than making plural directly sequential copies of each page requiring post-collation in a sorter or collator.
The problem of keeping shared (networked) printer job outputs from becoming mixed up, or accidentally removed by others, is serious enough that some users have for several years placed manual mailboxes, like Post Office boxes, adjacent the printer, with the boxes labeled with different user names, for manual job sorting. Likewise, for shared hard copy facsimile machines.
A desirable additional feature for mailboxing systems is to staple or otherwise bind, fasten or finish the sheets of each job together, so that plural finished sets are removable as such from the user's bin(s), maintained neatly stacked and separated from other jobs by being fastened. This can be done by pre-compiling and stapling sets before they are placed into designated mailbox bins, as in the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,074 to Mandel. Alternatively, it could be done by using in-bin stapling, which is well know for sorters, e.g., Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,408 to L. Leiter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,944,207 to Bains; U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,748 to Looney; U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,191 to Stemmle; U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,310 to Cooper; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,171 to Kramer, et al.. Also, Xerox Corporation R/84007 U.K. 2 173 483-A GB published Oct. 15, 1986 by Denis Stemmle; and R/81011 U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,191 issued Aug. 18, 1987 and published in the EPO as 0198970-A1 on 29.10.86. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,550 issued Apr. 11, 1978 to R. Pal. Other Xerox Corporation patents include Snellman et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,241 and Hamlin et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,185 on edge jogging and glue binding sets in a sorter or collator and/or stapling of the post-collated copy sets.
Another desirable "mailboxing" feature is secured bins. Prior art on lockable and unlockable copier or printer bins or mail boxes for the output sheets thereof includes the above-cited EPO application No. 0 241 273 by Xerox Corporation published Oct. 14, 1987, [D/86031 EP], entitled "Limited Access Reproducing Machine Bins", disclosing a reproducing machine with lockable and unlockable bins which can be selected by the user for receiving copy sheets, precollated or uncollated. It teaches alternatively remote user or laser printer input, with copy bin lock boxes, and central computer display bin electrical bin unlocking entry and control usable herewith. Further as to bin locking, U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,356 entitled "Word Processor-Controlled Printer Output Bin Lock Box", issued Sep. 11, 1984, to Datapoint Corp., by D. Davis, et al., discloses a lockbox insertable and removable from an output bin. A security door is closed to allow removal of the box. U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,660 entitled "Word Processor Controlled Printer Output Scanner Mechanism", also issued Mar. 20, 1984 to Datapoint Corp., discloses a scanning mechanism for scanning individualized output bins collecting laser printer output for determining each bins availability, the degree of fullness, and whether or not a lockbox is positioned in the bin. U.S. Defensive Publication No. T102,102 entitled "Access Controlled Copier" Published Aug. 3, 1982 by Albert Bolle, et. al., discloses sorter bins which can be locked to the user by means of a badge reader or the like. The user-entered identification data is entered and recorded on the first copy which is delivered to the locked sorter bin or bins. IBM Corp. U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,579 entitled "Information Transmitting and Receiving Station Utilizing a Copier-Printer" issued Nov. 8, 1983 discloses a secured mailbox located at the bottom of the collator. Xerox Corporation reportedly provided modified copier sorters with locked bins for at least the U.S. State Department many years ago.
Among examples of keyboard or keypad enterable electronic security systems in general are U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,504; 5,014,049; and 5,021,776.
Additionally noted is the Ricoh FAX4000L facsimile machine, which describes in its literature the following feature called "Confidential Transmission": "If the other end has memory and the confidential reception feature, you can use confidential transmission. The other end can only print the message after they enter the terminal programmed password . . . . For extra security, you can specify the password for the message. This personal password will override the password that the other terminal user has previously stored in their machine, which would normally be used for printing confidential messages. Coordinate with the receiver operator before using this feature. This feature works if the receiver is using a recent Ricoh [only?] memory facsimile terminal."
On another optional or desirable feature, art relating to sorter bin assignment schemes wherein the bins have an associated LCD or the like type of visual display includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,594 to Davis; U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,660 to Tomkins et al noted above; U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,419 to Takahashi, et al.; and U.S. Defensive Publication T102,102 to Bolle et al., noted above. Also, Fuji Xerox Corp. FX-10475 Japanese Application No. S 59-55424, filed Apr. 17, 1984 and published on Nov. 6, 1985 as Koksi No. 60-167054.
On another optional or desirable feature, the control and operation of multi-bin sheet collators or sorters to use or group more than one adjacent bin when the number of sheets in a copy set will exceed the capacity of a single bin is known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,485, the immediately above-cited Takahashi et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,419, or U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,581, and various above and other references. There were also commercially available for many years sorters in which bins were addressable by punched card or paper tape controls. Said U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,419 is also of interest as showing individual pivotal bin gates, which gates also have another surface normally providing a "ski" or baffle for holding sheets against the sorter transport belt as they move past the array of bins until they reach the selected bin (see especially FIG. 3 thereof).
When a sorter unit is to be alternatively used for, or converted to use for, a printer mailbox unit, it may be desirable to increase the available sheet stacking space between bin trays or shelves to increase bin capacity. Moving or removing sorter bin shelves for doubling or tripling the number of multiple copies which a particular bin can receive is taught for a sorter per se in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,279 issued Sep. 23, 1975 to J. H. Erwin by AM Corp. See especially Col. 3. Doing so for different numbers of copies or documents to different users in preprogrammed bin sequences is suggested in Col. 1.
A sorter or collator modular unit description which indicates that it can accept copy sheets inputted from either of two opposite sides thereof from a copier or printer, with or without inversion for face up or face down output, and other typical sorter options or modes, such as noncollated top bin only stacking or progressive bins sort stacking of identical copies, is in U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,937 issued Feb. 1, 1972 to L. J. Schulz, et al. [3M]. However, it appears from the further description in Col. 8 thereof that the one said side entrance 14 will always invent the input, and the other side 13 entrance will always not invert the input, so that this unit would not actually be interchangeably usable with all left or right end outputs. Mita U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,768 is noted re selectable right or left hand printer output. Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,904 issued Feb. 18, 1975 to D. J. Stemmle shows inserting sheets into a set of sorter bins from either side thereof for simplex or duplex copies. i.e., with or without inversion, but all copies enter that unit from one side of the sorter module.
As to usable specific hardware components of the subject apparatus, it will be appreciated that, as is normally the case, some such specific hardware components are known per se in other apparatus or applications. For example, various commercially available stand-alone, self-controlled modular sorter units are known for sorting the output of xerographic copiers or printers. Examples include above-cited art and its references. One commercial example is cited and disclosed in the embodiment example hereinbelow. In particular, for examples of sheet feeding side registration systems and hardware, noted are Xerox Corporation U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,487,407; 4,411,418; 4,621,801; 4,744,555; 4,809,968; 4,919,318, and 5,065,998.
In the description herein the term "sheet" or "hard copy" refers to a usually flimsy sheet of paper, plastic, or other such conventional individual physical image substrate, and not to electronic images. Related, e.g., page order, plural sheets, documents or copies can be referred to as a "set" or "job". A "job" may also refer to one or more documents or sets of documents beings sent to or received by a particular addressee or designee. The term "document", unfortunately, unless defined, is used ambiguously in the art by others to refer to either a single page or multi-page set or job, especially (but not always) as that which being transmitted or copied. "Original" is more specifically used for the latter. "Facsimile", or the common abbreviation "Fax", often refers to conventionally telecommunicated image data, in particular, documents facsimiled via a telephone system in accordance with CCITT Standards, and equipment therefor. However, for claim purposes herein, "facsimile" can also encompass "electronic mail" and/or system or network interconnected printers, networked with remote terminals and/or scanners, and remote printers, or the like, unless indicated otherwise. Plural mode (multi-function) combined normal printing and facsimile message receiver printing capability printers are known, and examples thereof are cited near the end of this specification. Facsimile can be sent and received by "fax cards" in PC's (personal computers) as well as with conventional stand-alone facsimile machines. The term "printer" encompasses hard copy output from various input sources, including facsimile, and conventionally refers to electronic document images input, versus a light-lens copier to which physical originals must be brought to be directly fed and imaged. The term "electronic mail" also has various broad meanings, and can include transmission by either external telephone lines, and/or shared internal networks using optical fiber, twisted wire pairs, coaxial cable, wireless transmissions, or other networking media, or combinations thereof, of documents for electronic remote terminal displays and/or printer hardcopy printouts, to any of the numerous addresses designated in the transmitted document.
The presently disclosed apparatus may be readily operated and controlled in a conventional manner with conventional control systems. It is well known in general and preferable to program and execute such control functions and logic with conventional software instructions for conventional microprocessors. This is taught by the various patents and various commercial facsimile machines, copiers and sorters. Such software may of course vary depending on the particular function and the particular software system and the particular microprocessor or microcomputer system being utilized, but will be available to or readily programmable by those skilled in the applicable arts without undue experimentation from either verbal functional descriptions, such as those provided herein, or prior knowledge of those functions which are conventional, together with general knowledge in the software and computer arts. Controls may alternatively be provided utilizing various other known or suitable hard-wired logic or switching systems.
All references cited in this specification, and their references, are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features, and/or technical background.
Various of the above-mentioned and further features and advantages will be apparent from the specific apparatus and its operation described in the example(s) below, as well as the claims. Thus, the present invention will be better understood from this description of an embodiment thereof, including the drawing figures (approximately to scale) wherein: